The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977, making the point that women should be able to walk anywhere without restriction and that they should not be blamed for men's violence. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975. He had experienced a number of health issues in recent years and was [13] She required multiple, extensive brain operations and had intermittent blackouts and chronic depression. [135], The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.[136]. For other people named Peter Sutcliffe, see, Investigations into other possible victims, The neurosurgeon was Dr. A. Hadi Khalili at, George Oldfield and other senior individuals involved in the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper had consulted senior FBI special agents. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, who on 25 November 1980 sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, I have good reason to now [sic] the man you are looking for in the Ripper case. Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, This was the last-ever sighting of Peter Sutcliffe in 2015, The bloated killer looked a world away from the monster who terrorised the North in the 1970s, The killer was escorted to a hospital for treatment to his eye, He appeared in good spirits and joked with staff, It was the first time Sutcliffe had been seen in 34 years, The monster lost the sight in his left eye after he was stabbed in the face with a pen by fellow Broadmoor patient Ian Kay in 1997, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe dead at 74 Serial killer who murdered 13 women dies from Covid, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Despite the divorce, Sutcliffe named Sonia as his next of kin. Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011 DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008. [63], In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. [84] As part of the research for the book, the authors claimed to have found evidence that pointed to the wrong man having been convicted for the Sewell murder, having unearthed a pathology report which allegedly indicated that the originally convicted Stephen Downing could not have committed the crime. [86] At the time detectives did not believe Schlessinger's murder was a Ripper killing as she was not a prostitute. [13] Because of this occupation, he developed a macabre sense of humour. Sutcliffe was interviewed by the police nine times prior to his arrest. [108] In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.[109]. Leading eye doctors were trying to save the sight of the frail serial killer in one of many trips Sutcliffe made to hospital during his final years. They were snapped as the Ripper was taken for tests as part of a series of treatments that cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds. [123] The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. His parents were John William Sutcliffe and his wife Kathleen Frances (ne Coonan), a native of Connemara. WebThis 1978 file photo shows Peter William Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper. He left this position when he was asked to go on the road as a salesman. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. [70], The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. The 2021 podcast Crime Analysis covers Sutcliffe's crimes, focusing on the victims, the investigation and forensics, trial, and aftermath including an interview with the son of victim Wilma McCann. [86] However, by 2002 West Yorkshire Police publicly announced they were ready to bring charges against Sutcliffe for this murder (although no further action was taken as his whole-life tariff was confirmed). .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}G. Gordon Liddys Wild Career After Watergate. [124] The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. [33] The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women." Police bought into the hoax even as some survivors informed authorities that their assailant had spoken with a Yorkshire accent. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. These victims survived, though with lasting trauma and severe injuries. [27] A witness misidentified the make of Sutcliffe's car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success. He ran off when he saw the lights of a passing car, leaving his victim requiring brain surgery. In addition, a 1982 government inquiry noted, "We feel it is highly improbable that the crimes in respect of which Sutcliffe has been charged and convicted are the only ones attributable to him." [76][75] Police eventually admitted in 1979 that the Ripper did not solely attack prostitutes, but by this time a local man, Anthony Steel, had already been convicted of Wilkinson's murder. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said, "I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. In 1977, Sutcliffe took the lives of four women: 28-year-old Irene Richardson in February; 32-year-old Patricia Atkinson in April; 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in June; and 21-year-old Jean Jordan in October. Wearing red trousers, a beige coat and cap, the monster looked a world away from the smirking killer who slaughtered 13 in a murderous rampage. [72], We feel it is highly improbable that the crimes in respect of which Sutcliffe has been charged and convicted are the only ones attributable to him. He left school at fifteen and held a variety of jobs, including work at a factory, as a gravedigger Birdsall visited Bradford police station the day after sending the letter to repeat his suspicions about Sutcliffe. [91][93] However, some of the links between Sutcliffe and these cases would later be definitively disproven. The 1982 Byford Report into the investigation concluded: "The ineffectiveness of the major incident room was a serious handicap to the Ripper investigation. Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. He left school in 1961, when he was 15. [79][78] Sutcliffe did not confess to Wilkinson's murder at his trial, although by this time Steel was already serving time for the murder. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. [75] Pearson's murder was re-classified as a Ripper killing in 1979, while Wilkinson's murder was not reviewed. Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. The 74-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19 and was suffering from underlying health conditions. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. [101][92] However, several aspects of the attack did not fit Sutcliffe's modus operandi, particularly as she had been hit from the front and had been the victim of a robbery. [29], After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Yorkshire Ripper. Peter Sutcliffe (1946-2020) - Find a Grave Memorial Advertisement Photo added by Louis du Mort Peter Sutcliffe Birth 2 Jun 1946 Bingley, Metropolitan Borough of [78], Clark and Tate claimed there were links between Sutcliffe and unsolved murders across the country, such as that of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo, Judith Roberts, Wendy Sewell, Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon, Patsy Morris and Carol Wilkinson. He succumbed to Covid-19 after refusing treatment. His father John Sutcliffe was a mill owner. In 1997, an inmate stabbed Sutcliffe's eyes with a pen, and he subsequently lost vision in his left eye. The pictures were taken while Sutcliffe was still a patient at Broadmoor Hospital. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". [94][95][92] The murder of Hila McAuley could also be definitively proven not to have been committed by Sutcliffe it has occurred on the same night he killed Jean Jordan in Manchester. View our online Press Pack. The Yorkshire Ripper. [78], Around the time of Wilkinson's murder it was widely reported that Professor David Gee, the Home Office pathologist who conducted all the post-mortem examinations on the Ripper victims, noted similarities between the Wilkinson murder and the killing of Ripper victim Yvonne Pearson three months later. [146], In February 2022, Channel 5 released a 60-minute documentary entitled The Ripper Speaks: The Lost Tapes, which recounts interviews and Sutcliffe speaking about life in prison and in Broadmoor Hospital, as well the crimes he had committed but which had not been seen or treated as "a Ripper killing".[147]. [127] In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard, to which he had driven her. Leading eye doctors were trying to save the sight of the frail serial killer in one of many trips Sutcliffe made to hospital during his final years. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced with concrete pillars to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want to press charges. But he evaded justice for more than a decade because of deep-seated Following Sutcliffe's death in 2020, a police constable issued an apology "for the additional distress and anxiety caused to all relatives by the language, tone and terminology used by senior officers at the time in relation to Peter Sutcliffe's victims. [80] He was familiar with the council estate where she was murdered and was known to have regularly frequented the area; in February 1977, only months before the murder, he was reported to police for acting suspiciously on the street where Wilkinson lived. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. [101][92], For many years Sutcliffe was linked in the press to the murder of 42-year-old Marion Spence in Leeds on 10 June 1979, but a man had in fact been convicted of her murder in January 1980. Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate. [125] On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. [40] Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.[41]. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle. [9][pageneeded], The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. A report by the He became a trusted employee and remained in the position during his killing spree. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. [19], Sutcliffe is also known to have attacked eleven other women:[20] a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979)[21] Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), Mo Lea (Leeds 1980) and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The group and other feminists had criticised the police for victim-blaming, especially for the suggestion that women should remain indoors at night. He was remanded in custody, and on 21 March 2006, was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history. He was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were co Sutcliffe met Sonia Szurma, whose parents were refugees from Poland and Ukraine, in 1966. In December 2017 West Yorkshire Police, in response to a Freedom of Information request, neither confirmed nor denied that Operation Painthall existed. Who Is Suspected Pentagon Leaker Jack Teixeira? Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. After leaving school Sutcliffe took on several different jobs, including at a factory and a mill. No action was taken when a friend sent the police an anonymous letter denouncing Sutcliffe. During his interrogation, Sutcliffe confessed to the crimes, saying, "It's all right, I know what you're leading up to. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case. WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for Complete Airbrush Manual by Owen, P. at the best online prices at eBay! Published: Dec 14, Menudo Star Says Jos Menendez Assaulted Him. [11] In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services. [86][88][87] Twelve of these occurred within West Yorkshire, while the others took place in other parts of the country. [92] South Yorkshire Police also interviewed Sutcliffe on the murder of Ann Marie Harold in Mexborough in 1980, but links to him were later disproved when another man was convicted of her murder in 1982. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. [90], Hellawell had listed the attacks on Tracey Browne in 1975 and Ann Rooney in 1979 as possible Sutcliffe attacks, and it was to him he confessed to these crimes to in 1992, confirming police suspicions that he was responsible for more attacks than those he confessed to at trial. He stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot. [105] The Home Office confirmed that it was, indicating that Sutcliffe can be ruled out of unsolved murder cases in which there is existing DNA evidence such as in the Mayo, Stratford and Weedon cases. [93][92], Also believed to be included on the list were the murders of 20-year-old Anna Kenny, 36-year-old Hilda McAuley and 23-year-old Agnes Cooney in separate incidents in Glasgow in 1977, as well as the World's End murders of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie in Edinburgh in 1978. Sutcliffe killed three additional victims between the hoax tape investigatory detour and his arrest. It's me. [96][97], Other links made by police between unsolved attacks and Sutcliffe would also be subsequently disproven. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Rogulskyj survived after brain surgery[a] but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. In April 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whittaker, a 19-year-old bank clerk. On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones,[36] who had an allotment on land adjoining the site and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. [32] Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. When investigators finally accepted that the killer was not solely targeting sex workers, one detective said Sutcliffe was now pursuing "innocent" victims. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, but failed to retrieve the note. Sutcliffe was born on June 2, 1946, in Bingley, West Yorkshire, England, to John and Kathleen Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning. I was just cleaning up the place a bit". At his trial he pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. THIS was the last-ever sighting of the Yorkshire Ripper as he was taken to hospital for an eye operation. [112] In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones. However, no additional charges were ever filed against Sutcliffe. He was eventually moved to prison in 2016 after it was decided his paranoid schizophrenia could be treated there. Sutcliffe died at the age of 74 on November 13, 2020, in the University Hospital of North Durham, near the prison where he'd been serving his sentence. The pictures taken in 2015 are the last ever taken of Sutcliffe before he died from Covid this morning in hospital. ", Yet Sutcliffe's plea of diminished responsibility, which could have resulted in a lighter sentence, wasn't successful. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines. The notorious British serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe died from COVID-19 in prison this month. Sutcliffe, who murdered at least 13 women and attempted to murder at least seven more, died in hospital from coronavirus on November 13, 2020. In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the 400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. Peter Sutcliffe dead - Yorkshire Ripper was last seen in public Although Sutcliffe was interviewed about it, he was not investigated further (he was contacted and disregarded by the Ripper Squad on several further occasions). The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. [9][10], Through his childhood and his early adolescence, Sutcliffe showed no signs of abnormality. He was declared mentally able to leave the secure hospital and be sent to a maximum-security prison in 2016. [75][82] The location Wilkinson was killed was very close to Sutcliffe's place of employment at T. & W. H. Clark, where he would have clocked in for work that afternoon. A report compiled on the visit was lost, despite a "comprehensive search" which took place after Sutcliffe's arrest, according to the Byford Report. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. This man as [sic] dealings with prostitutes and always had a thing about them His name and address is Peter Sutcliffe, 5 [sic] Garden Lane, Heaton, Bradford Clarkes [sic] Trans. In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. Sutcliffe's first and last murders also occurred in Leeds. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the 5 note led to nothing, leaving investigators frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued. Episode 1", "Yorkshire Ripper 'has admitted more attacks', "Sutcliffe's 'secret murders': When Yorkshire Ripper was quizzed on unsolved Dundee killings", "Tayside murders 'bore hallmark of the Ripper', "Angus Sinclair: A lifetime of abuse, rape and murder", "The Bristol prostitute murdered as the Yorkshire Ripper hunted red light districts", "Wendy Sewell murder: Pathology report 'contradicts conviction', "Yorkshire Ripper moved back to prison after 32 years in Broadmoor", "Crime case closed: Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper", "Deranged killer admits Yorkshire Ripper blinding", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe 'fit to be freed from Broadmoor', "Summer date for hearing that could lead to parole for Ripper", "Yorkshire Ripper will never be released", "Yorkshire Ripper to remain locked up for life", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe challenges "whole life" ruling", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe challenges full-life jail sentence", "Yorkshire Ripper loses bid to appeal "whole life" term", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe loses life tariff case", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe 'facing Broadmoor exit', "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe moved from Broadmoor to prison", "Yorkshire Ripper moved back to prison from psychiatric hospital", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe dies aged 74", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe cremated at secret funeral", "This is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper Awards", "Crimes That Shook Britain Series 4 | Crime and Investigation", "The Yorkshire Ripper Investigation, The Reunion BBC Radio 4", "The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story", "The Incident Room review Yorkshire Ripper retelling puts police in the spotlight", "Long Shadow Yorkshire Ripper drama cast includes some big names", "WELCOME TO CHAPELTOWN: COREY TAYLOR AND CLOWN DELVE INTO SLIPKNOT'S NEW 'BARNBURNER', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Sutcliffe&oldid=1152480740, British people convicted of attempted murder, Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England, English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, People convicted of murder by England and Wales, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales, Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention, Serial killers who died in prison custody, Articles with self-published sources from January 2021, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from January 2021, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Articles with incomplete citations from June 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from September 2022, Articles lacking page references from January 2021, Articles with dead external links from October 2022, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 22+ (13confirmed murdered, 7confirmed injured, 2suspected to be injured, at least 1 other officially suspected murder), This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 14:06. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office. Tyre tracks found at the scene matched those from an earlier attack. Sutcliffe struck the back of her skull twice with a hammer, then inflicted "a stab wound to the throat; two stab wounds below the right breast; three stab wounds below the left breast and a series of nine stab wounds around the umbilicus". [141], A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until Sutcliffe's arrest on 2 January 1981, the following year.[69]. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous.[54]. The sexual implications of this outfit were considered obvious but it was not known to the public until published in 2003. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. [2]:112 Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. [31] In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. (The death penalty was not an option, having been abolished in 1965.).